Songs of an Orange. A study into the image of Prince William III of Orange in early modern songs as an expression of and contribution to a public opinion in the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic

Abstract

This thesis follows two closely related strands of research, the one being the image of Prince William III of Orange as expressed in early modern songs about three important events in his life, the other following the premise that the early modern song expressed or even contributed to a seventeenth-century public opinion in the Dutch Republic. The thesis offers a description of the historical context, a discussion of the way songs can express and shape public opinion and an empirical analysis of three moments in William’s life (1677, 1689 and 1702), based on Dutch songs, and a comparison between Dutch and English songs, using the events of 1689 as a case study.